By Andrew Warshaw
January 10 – Once the world’s most expensive footballer and a five-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid, Wales captain Gareth Bale has ended his playing career at the age of 33, he announced on Monday.
January 10 – It didn’t take Roberto Martinez long to find a new role. The Spaniard has become the third foreign coach to lead Portugal, succeeding Fernando Santos.
January 9 – Holders Liverpool were held to a 2-2 home draw by Wolverhampton Wanderers on a weekend when no fewer than eight of the 20 Premier League sides were dumped out of the FA Cup, the world’s oldest domestic knockout competition, at the first time of asking.
January 9 – French coach Didier Deschamps is to stay until the 2026 World Cup after leading his country to the final of the last two editions of the tournament.
January 9 – Not for the first time, French football has been hit by an internal war of words, this time over controversial comments made by French football federation (FFF) president Noel Le Graet about national icon Zinedine Zidane (pictured).
January 6 – UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin looks set for a third term as UEFA president after the deadline passed yesterday for any challengers to come forward for the April 5 election at the UEFA congress in Lisbon, Portugal.
January 6 – The football world has lost yet another iconic and hugely popular figure with tributes pouring in following the death at just 58 of former Italian great Gianluca Vialli.
January 6 – Lazio have been handed a partial one-match stadium restriction after fans directed racist chants at Lecce defender Samuel Umtiti and winger Lameck Banda in an away Serie A game earlier this week that prompted widespread outrage.
January 5 – Supportive messages have poured in, including from FIFA president Gianni Infantino, after French international Samuel Umtiti was racially abused by Lazio fans who have once again tarnished the sport in Italy.
January 5 – Corsican businessman Pierre-Marie Geronimi (pictured), former president of SC Bastia, has been charged with fraud, bankruptcy and misuse of corporate assets as part of a judicial investigation into possible financial embezzlement before the club’s 2017 liquidation.
January 5 – Just four months after his dismissal by Bournemouth, Scott Parker has succeeded Carl Hoefkens as head coach of Belgian champions Club Brugge.
January 5 – In a surprise appointment, Nigel de Jong will become the new director of football at the Dutch FA (KNVB), succeeding Jan Hoogsma.
By David Owen
January 3 – Today marks the 50th anniversary of a very odd football match at Wembley Stadium.
January 3 – Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr has accused LaLiga of continuing to do nothing about racist abuse from fans after he was targeted by Real Valladolid fans last Friday.
January 3 – Russian football bosses have decided not to quit UEFA, shelving a plan to try instead to join the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to enable its clubs and national teams to resume playing.